"I was hired by an online publisher as a freelance journalist to write
an article detailing the history and business model of MySpace.com"

I think it's important to note that this is the basis of his article. After reading the many comments in relationship to the article (at the site), I have to wonder what he really hit on that ticked off News Corp.

I didn't find it slanderous to MySpace, but I did find it revealing. The fact that some people think (based on follow up comments): "so what, spam... everyone commits some type of fraud, etc..." is ok, is somewhat disconcerting.

MySpace may give some folks an outlet for their enterprise but let's remember that there are sti...

"I was hired by an online publisher as a freelance journalist to write
an article detailing the history and business model of MySpace.com"

I think it's important to note that this is the basis of his article. After reading the many comments in relationship to the article (at the site), I have to wonder what he really hit on that ticked off News Corp.

I didn't find it slanderous to MySpace, but I did find it revealing. The fact that some people think (based on follow up comments): "so what, spam... everyone commits some type of fraud, etc..." is ok, is somewhat disconcerting.

MySpace may give some folks an outlet for their enterprise but let's remember that there are still kids and predators registered at MySpace, which, as a parent is and always will be my main concern of the MySpace product.

Also, I'm beginning to think this "free for all" attitude is churning out more private social networking avenues. These have pretty strict content rules and are monitored for such, as far as I've been able to tell.

A few of them are:
BlogHer
Zaadz
Vox
And of course.... Clipmarks which we know has quick response in the face of adversity.

The reason I joined myspace is I was looking for music and new fresh music... since my entire collection was lost. I exactly knew that I would get band invites. I also have had a lot of experiment room on template pages and I trade code with other html designers there. Yes there can be spam, but, that can come from anywhere. each user has the ability to reject invites from other users without proper information. No one is forced to get or keep a "free account" anywhere. If you remember what you are - or - are not looking for on a site you can keep a handle on it. I actually get spammed more in my personal mail from other forum sources than from myspace users. I actually asked bands t...

The reason I joined myspace is I was looking for music and new fresh music... since my entire collection was lost. I exactly knew that I would get band invites. I also have had a lot of experiment room on template pages and I trade code with other html designers there. Yes there can be spam, but, that can come from anywhere. each user has the ability to reject invites from other users without proper information. No one is forced to get or keep a "free account" anywhere. If you remember what you are - or - are not looking for on a site you can keep a handle on it. I actually get spammed more in my personal mail from other forum sources than from myspace users. I actually asked bands to contact me on my blog, because I don't have the time to waste at the search engine trying to find out what groups are there. It takes a bout 10 seconds to know whether you absolutely hate a group and 12 minutes to hear 4 songs while you are browsing on your other tabs if you like them. Most of my friends on myspace are musicians. I welcome them because I'm not looking to meet anyone in person anyway...and neither are they. When I was young I heard new music on the radio. It has been so very long that i have even turned on the radio. I don't think anyone should rely on any of the social networks for their entire entertainment in life. It really doesn't matter to me how a site got to be the size it did if I am signing up voluntarily for services. I actually have only joined networks that I have found on my own. with the exception of frappr which I found through clipmarks. and since I've blogged about how great clipmarks is on my space.... well....what does that mean? Most people don't sign up for stuff because of spam. I get invites from social networks all the time in emails and I don't flinch. I think it depends on the person. You find what you are looking for and ignore what you don't want to find.
I would not recommend any youths to join the networks .

What the person who wrote the article doesn't realize is that by giving the links to the paid site just helped their revenue. As Myspace is no longer owned by the original site owners any clean up efforts are making the wilder love interest seekers find out where many of the earlier users went. I actually never heard of the links that are mentioned here and will not click the links to find out.
All of the major sites and News pages for that matter use ads even when you don't sign in. The fact that a free site has ads to support it without charging their customers is not a new idea if anyone has a TV or bought a a magazine or news paper.

It is incorrect that you have to sign in to us...

What the person who wrote the article doesn't realize is that by giving the links to the paid site just helped their revenue. As Myspace is no longer owned by the original site owners any clean up efforts are making the wilder love interest seekers find out where many of the earlier users went. I actually never heard of the links that are mentioned here and will not click the links to find out.
All of the major sites and News pages for that matter use ads even when you don't sign in. The fact that a free site has ads to support it without charging their customers is not a new idea if anyone has a TV or bought a a magazine or news paper.

It is incorrect that you have to sign in to use the site. You do have to sign in to view pictures and additional things uploaded by a person..As a member you must agree to the usage rights which states that you must respect the personal rights of ownership of the other members even though it is a shared media network.